Foldable crate.



L. V. JENKINS (Q W. K. BAILEY.

FOLDABLE CRATE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.27. 1915.

1,227A45 Patented May 22, 1917.

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L. V. JENKINS & W. K. BAILEY.

FOLDABLE CRATE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.27,Z915.

LQQFA w. Patented May 2, 1917.

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3 wuc 1441014 .5. Wig/ 4,275 K Mafia/7 y 6/ WTTED dTATEd PATENT FFTE LUTHER VEAGH JENKINS AND WILLIAM KENDALL BAILEY, OF SADIEVILLE,

KENTUCKY.

FOLIDABLE CRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 1911?.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LUTHER V. JENKINS and WILLIAM K. BAILEY, citizens of the United States, residing at Sadieville, in the county of Scott and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Foldable Crates; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention isa folding crate of the type wherein the sides and ends are adapted to be folded against the base to compactly store, and to facilitate the shipment of empty receptacles.

A purpose of the invention is to provide a removable top or. cover fora crate having simple and efiicient means to lock the top to the body of the crate when in its distended position, or to the base of the crate when in its folded position.

An embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that the construction therein shown is for the purposes of illustration only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the crate arranged to receive articles.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the crate when folded.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through the base showing a side and an end member in elevated positions.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the under face of the top member.

Fig.5 is a view of one of the plunger rods.

The crate comprises a base 1 which may be provided with an upstanding flange having side sections 2 and end sections 3. The end sections 3 may be provided with a perforation indicated at 4. The end members 5 of the crate may be hinged to the base 1, while the side members 6' may be hinged to the side sections of the flange 2, so that the hinging of the side members 6 may be on a plane above the folded position of the end members 5, although it is obvious that the folded arrangements of these parts may be reversed. The side members 6 may be provided with a resilient member 7, such as a leaf spring, which is shown secured near the upper portion of the member 6 in a position to engage an adjacent end member 5 to retain the end member in its upright position. Any number of these resilient elements 7 may be employed.

If desired, the end and side members 5 and 6 respectively, may be provided with foraminous material indicated at 8 to permit of ventilation of the crate.

The crate is provided with a removable cover or top indicated at 9, and this cover may be provided with apertures 10 by means of which the locking elements, to be hereinafter referred to, may be actuated. If the crate is to be used for the shipment of poultry, this cover may be provided with a hinged door 11 to close an opening in the cover, said door hinge being lndicated at 12. ()pposite to the hinging of the door, there may be provided a suitable keeper 13 adjacent the opening, the keeper being shown as a part of the framework surrounding the door opening.

On the under side of the door 11 there may be provided a plunger rod 14 mounted in the guideway 15, one end of the rod being formed with a finger loop 16, access to which is attained by means of the opening 17 in the doorway. At the other end of the plunger rod 141-, a suitable catch is formed to engage the keeper. The other end of the rod 14 is bent to engage the keeper 13 to lock the door in its closed position. This rod is shown bent downwardly to form a seat for an end of a resilient element, such as the spring 18, thence upwardly, terminating in the inclined portion 19, which is adapted to ride over the keeper 13 against the action of the spring 18. By this arrangement of the end 19 of the plunger rod,

the door may be dropped to its closed position by gravity, and locked in such position without the necessity of retracting the plunger manually.

The top or cover of the crate 9 is shown provided with a depending flange having side sections 20 and end sections 21. The end sections may be perforated if desired, to register with the perforations 4 of the flange of the base 1. On the under face of the top 9 there may be provided a plurality of oppositely positioned plungers 22. These plungers are disclosed as mounted longitudinally of the top, and are preferably directed in their movements by suitable guides 23. One end of the plunger rod may be bent transversely as at 22 across the opening 10, for the purpose of manually controlling the operation of the plunger. The rod is shown bent near its other end to form a seat 24-, thence rearwardly as at 25, and thence forwardly, terminating in its loelring point 26. The plunger rod may be malntained in its locking position by any suitable resilient element, but in the drawings the resilient element is disclosed as a spring wire 27 arranged longitudinally of the cover, having a coil at 28 and arm 29 arranged at substantially right angles to the section 27 of the resilient element, said arm 29 engaging the seat 24 of the plunger rod 22. In the smaller crates, the resilient element 27 may be extended from one end to the opposite end of the cover, thereby forming a single continuous resilient element for operating a plurality of retractable locking plungers. Parallel with the side flanges 21 there may be provided an angle iron 30, one section of which is arranged parallel with the flange 21 to form a channel within which may be positioned the upper end of the end members 5 on the crate. This section 30 serves as an abutment against which the plungers may rest, thereby limiting the movement of the plungers in one direction. They also serve as means to maintain the end members in their cooperative relation to the cover, and serve as supports against the transverse movement of the side members by having said side members engage the ends of the plate section 30.

In operation, the resilient plate 7 on the sides, will serve to maintain the ends 5 in their open position. After the container has been filled ready for shipment, the cover may be placed over the sides and end members, the plungers 22 retracted until they register with the openings 5 in the end members, whereupon they may be released to have their ends 26 pass through the openings 5 and lock the cover in position. When it is desired to ship the crate in its folded position, the ends are first folded against the base 1, thence the sides 6 are folded over the ends 5, whereupon the top may be placed over the flanges 2, 3 of the base until the ends 26 of the spring actuated plungers 22 become engaged with the apertures 4: of the flange sections 3, as shown in Fi 2.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a foldable crate, a top member havtiopiea of this patent may be obtained for ing a plurality of oppositely positioned plungers, the ends of which are adapted to extend simultaneously through two overlapping members of the crate, each plunger being in the form of a bar which is bent rearwardly to form a seat for a resilient member, and thence forwardly to provide a crate engaging end, and a resilient element positioned adjacent the plunger and having an end of the resilient element bearing against the seat of the plunger to direct the plunger outwardly to engage the crate members.

2. In a foldable crate, a top member having an aperture, a locking plunger comprising a rod bent to form an arm to extend across said aperture to facilitate the actuation of the plunger, and said plunger rod being bent near its other end to form a, seat, and a resilient element adapted to engage said seat to maintain the plunger in its locking position.

3. In a foldable crate, a top member having a depending flange at its sides and ends, a guide plate secured to the top member substantially parallel with theend flange sections, a locking plunger mounted on the top member comprising a rod bent near one end to form means to actuate the plunger, and near its other end so bent that it will form a seat, a resilient element to engage said seat to maintain the flange in its looking position, said guide plate serving to limit the movement of the plunger in one direction.

4. A foldable crate comprising pivoted side and end members and a removable top member, said top member having a depending flange at the sides and ends thereof to V engage the side and end members of the crate, guide plates secured to the top mem bers parallel with the depending flange to receive the upper portion of the end members between said flange and said guide plates, a plurality of plunger rods bent near one end to form a combined seat and abutment, said plunger rods being so mounted on the top that their movement in one direction will be limited by said abutments engaging said guide plates, and a resilient element common to a plurality oi said plunger rods.

In testimony whereof, we aflix our signatures, in presence of two witnesses.

LUTHER VEAGH JENKINS. WM. KENDALL BAILEY.

iVitnesses GENE CovrNGToN, DENNY TRUI'r'r.

five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Eateries,

Washington, D. U. 

